Day One
Monday 7th December 2015
08:30 - 09:00 Registration & coffee
09:00 - 09:15 Welcome note from the chairman
09:15 - 09:30 Official opening
Opening Remarks by: H.E Mr. Kamal bin Ahmed Mohammed, Minister of Transport Kingdom of Bahrain
09:30 - 10:15 Keynote | The status of Arab Travel and Tourism
10:15 - 10:30 Tour around exhibition space and inauguration of The Little Engineer Workshop
10:30 - 11:15 Interactive Panel:
Arab markets untapped potential and current geo-political pressure
Travel and tourism is a major driver of the Arab economy, supporting hundreds of thousands of jobs and strongly contributing to GDP. Yet, arguably, the sector is still in its infancy. How much potential does the sector have? How and what have we done to unlock the full potential of the sector?
11:15 - 12:15 Regional Case Study:
Bahrain Travel & Tourism | The Primary impact of Avia-tourism on the economy
Bahrain has been playing a major role in developing the modern Arab aviation and tourism scene and is a major hub in aviation and MRO. The Bahrain experience in developing tourism is one to learn from and also to debate, especially under the current circumstances.
12:15 - 13:15 Networking Lunch
13:15 - 14:00 Case Study (Morocco)
The economics behind opening up foreign investment policies
How aviation and tourism sector benefited the free trade and open sky policy between Morocco and Europe
14:00 - 14:45Interactive Panel:
Investing in Arab aviation & tourism and the role of the Private Sector
Are Arab Governments investing enough in aviation & tourism being the biggest contributors to its local GDP’s? The Arab world’s travel and tourism has few private sector players but is arguably truly led at the governmental level Time for the private sector to lead the travel and tourism industry?
Speakers (TBC):
14:45 - 15:00 Coffee and Networking Break
15:00 - 15:45 Expert Presentation
The age of airlines - Global innovation and modern technologies
How aviation manufacturers are leading the world with progressive technologies and what is next?
15:45 - 16:00 Coffee Break
16:00 - 16:45Closing Session
Driving growth forward - Learning’s and actions
Where and how far will the region’s travel and tourism sector go?
What will the future of the region’s travel and tourism look like? How much of a contribution can the sector make to national diversification strategies? What is needed to steer growth in the right direction?
16:45 - 17:00 Closing Remarks
19:30 - 00:00 Gala Dinner hosted by the Ministry of Transport, Kingdom of Bahrain
Day Two
Tuesday 8th December 2015
09:30 Guests gather at Hotel lobby
10:00 Bus leaves hotel to IMAX Cinema Theatre
10:45 – 11:30 Special screening